Eight killed in Kulonprogo landslides

Eight killed in Kulonprogo landslides

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Eight people died and six others went
missing on Monday in mudflows caused by landslides in the remote
areas of Semagung, Ngaren and Kalijeruk, in Kalibawang district,
Kulonprogo regency, some 30 kilometers northwest of here.

Semagung is located in Banjaroyo village, while Ngaren and
Kalijeruk are in Banjarasri village.

In the second such incident in the last two months, the
landslides, which were triggered by heavy rain, also destroyed
dozens of houses and disrupted traffic.

The districts of Girimulyo, Pengasih, Kokap and Temon were
buried beneath mud following heavy downpours which caused
landslides on Nov. 7. Local authorities said these landslides
caused at least Rp 177 million in financial losses.

Rescue workers, assisted by locals, recovered the bodies of
housewife Sudiutomo, her daughter Marjiati, Marjiati's husband
Surandi, Wagiyem, Suwarti, Ardjowinangun, Tirtodiyono, and his
wife.

Suwarti, a teacher at Pangudi Luhur Catholic elementary
school, was the only resident of Semagung. The other seven dead
victims were Ngaren residents.

Those missing were identified as Muji Sumarto, Tjokro Inangun
and Suwarti's children Kristiawan, Agus, Ade and Aditya.

Suwarti's husband, Yoko, is alive. He was attending mass at
the nearby Promasan Church when the mudflows struck.

Semagung is near Sendangsono, a destination for Catholic
pilgrims.

Earlier on Monday evening, another landslide hit the remote
village of Sriwedari in the neighboring regency of Magelang,
burying a family of four alive.

The bodies of Kusno, 42, his wife Inayah, 40, and their
children Romadhon, 17, and Koniah, 13, were recovered on Tuesday.

Kusno was laying face down in the living room near Romadhon,
while Inayah and Koniah, wearing Muslim prayer clothes, were
found with their arms around each other, Antara reported.

Another family member, Afif, 19, survived as he was out for
evening prayer at a nearby mosque when the landslide struck.

The family lived in a house that stood under a hill, which
slumped following torrential rains.

Thunder

Sindu Mulyono, the community head in Ngaren, said at St. Yusup
Hospital he heard a thundering sound at about 8:30 p.m. on
Monday, and then realized what was happening.

He said he ran to the house of his neighbor, Tirtodiyono.

"I wanted to go to Tirtodiyono's house when a huge pile of mud
buried me up to my waist. I could not move my legs. Members of
the rescue team saved me after I had been buried for half an
hour. Thank God that only the lower part of my body was buried. I
was lucky I could still breathe."

Sindu was rushed to the hospital for treatment and
observation.

Another survivor, Mardi Utomo, said she also ran to
Tirtodiyono's house when she heard the sound of the oncoming mud.

She said she fell down and was hit by stones, soil and mud,
adding that her family was safe at home.

"Our village is listed as an area vulnerable to landslides,
and this is not the first landslide we have had," Marso Suyitno,
65, a Ngaren villager, told The Jakarta Post.

He remembers landslides hitting his subvillage in 1965, 1976
and 1986. Two people were killed in the 1976 landslide, but no
fatalities were reported in the 1965 and 1986 incidents, although
the 1986 landslide was called the worst to ever hit the area.

Dwikorita Karnawati, an environmental geologist at Gadjah Mada
University, said the structure of the soil in the areas affected
by landslides was very fragile, a problem made worse by long and
heavy rain.

She said the soil in the areas consisted of rock and layers of
loose soil, which was easily "melted" by rain. (swa)